


Brontide

by toushindai (WallofIllusion)



Category: Baccano!
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 06:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9166840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WallofIllusion/pseuds/toushindai
Summary: The last time Elmer sees Huey and Monica smile at each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ask meme response for [chancellorxofxtrash's](http://archiveofourown.org/users/yonnna/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash) prompt "Brontide: The low rumbling of distant thunder"

If Elmer had realized that would be the last time he saw Monica and Huey smile at each other, he would have been more deliberate about committing it to his memory.

Yes, he’s seen each of them smile since then—Huey in his very rare moments of grateful respite, and that final smile from Monica as bright and pure as the sun—but that’s different. The way that they smile ( _smiled_ , he reminds himself with a wince: past tense) for each other is special. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be in love, but if it makes people smile like that, he figures it must be something really incredible.

So he does his best to hold on to the memory of the last smile he saw them share:

It was raining as they all three headed home from class.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but it wasn’t loud enough and the clouds weren’t dark enough that they were concerned until all of a sudden the heavens open and drenched them in a matter of seconds. Someone shrieked and they all darted for the nearest awning to wait out the worst of it.

Once safely under the awning, Huey and Monica wrung out their hair, and Monica did the best she could with her skirts. As she squeezed them, Elmer noticed that she was biting back a smile.

“What?” he asked her, poking her cheek. She batted his hand away before sending a sly glance at Huey.

“Just impressed at that little yelp from my boyfriend just now.”

In the middle of combing his fingers through his wet hair, Huey froze. “Monica.”

“Oh, that was him? I thought that was you, Moni-moni!”

“No, I don’t make any noise unless I mean to,” she answered primly, still smirking.

“ _Monica_ ,” Huey protested again, turning bright red and making Elmer quite certain that Monica’s comments meant more than what she was saying aloud.

“I’m glad you two get along,” he said diplomatically.

“Shut up, Elmer.”

Huey’s embarrassment was obvious, but Monica gave up on her skirts to take his hand. She drew him close, smiling up at him.

“You’re soaking wet,” he pointed out, though he didn’t pull away; he only brushed her bangs off her forehead so that they weren’t dripping into her eyes.

“So are you,” she pointed out. “I still like holding you.”

“Elmer is standing _right there_.” 

“He doesn’t care, Huey.”

A roll of his eyes. “No, I’m sure he doesn’t.”

Because for all his sarcasm, there was a smirk tugging at Huey’s lips too as he trailed his fingers down the side of Monica’s face. They were slipping into their own little world, and Elmer loved the way they looked at each other. For the briefest of moments, he thought that maybe he could sustain himself on their smiles alone, for the rest of his life.

*

It turns out that that’s not an option, and Elmer doesn’t lose too much sleep over that. But he holds that moment in his memory—holds onto those smiles—and he waits and hopes for the day he’ll see Huey smile again.  


End file.
